


The Coffee Shop: Bucky and Steve

by ravenienne



Series: Powerless Universe (AU) [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blind Character, Blindness, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Coffee Shops, Disability, Disabled Character, Gen, Physical Disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 15:24:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14083875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenienne/pseuds/ravenienne
Summary: Steve and Bucky run into each other -- literally -- for the first time in many years. A lot has changed since the eighth grade.





	The Coffee Shop: Bucky and Steve

Bucky breathed deeply as he entered the coffee shop, trying to get the sickly stench of gasoline to fade. There had been an accident at the last intersection he passed on his normal route to the coffee shop, and the exceptionally heavy scent of fumes was dragging memories into the forefront of his mind, memories he did not want but that always sat too close to the surface.

Bucky shook his head, dragging his mind back to the present. He was still standing by the door, though his glasses had finished transitioning to the new, dimmer lighting conditions. Three people in line, it looked like. He focused on that and moved forward to what seemed like the end of the line.

“Ooof!” Something jabbed him in the stomach, causing him to stumble slightly to the side.

“I am  _ so _ sorry! Are you okay?”

Bucky straightened, holding back a wince. “I’m fine, yeah, sorry.”

“Don’t-- wait... Bucky? Bucky Barnes?”

Bucky stiffened. “Yes?” he said warily.

“Don’t you recognize-- oh, sorry. Uh, it’s, um, it’s Steve… Steve Rogers?”

Bucky blinked in surprise. “Steve?” Little Steve, from the Mobley’s?

“Yeah, hi, wow! I haven’t seen you since, what, eighth grade?”

Bucky just nodded, feeling a bit shocked still.

“Oh, crud, I’m being paged. I gotta run. But hey, do you want to catch up sometime? Grab coffee or something?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky nodded, trying to shake off the daze.

“Cool, um… Do you want to tell me your number and I’ll program it in real quick?”

“Yeah, okay.” Bucky gave him a genuine smile, feeling muscles stretch that hadn’t in a while.

A few minutes later, his phone pinged and announced, “ _ Text from unknown number, 555-6730 _ .” He pulled it out and had the text read through his headphones.

“ _ It’s Steve Rogers. Glad I ran into you, literally. Colon closed parenthesis. _ ”

#####  xxXxx

A few days later, Bucky was entering the same coffee shop again, this time feeling slightly nervous to see Steve again. He hadn’t really had contact with anyone from Before, capital ‘B,’ and he was nervous about how people who had once known him would react. Steve was different though, he reminded himself.

He stood for a moment just a couple of paces in from the door, letting his glasses and eyes adjust to the change in lighting and giving Steve a chance to call out to him if he was there already. When he didn’t hear anything, he stepped forward a bit towards the lumpy black shadows he inferred were people in line.

A few minutes later, he had just finished thanking the kind barista for carrying his coffee for him while he navigated towards a table when a small someone rushed up to his table.

“Bucky! Hi, hey,” Steve said, and Bucky could hear the smile in his voice.

“Hey,” Bucky answered, giving him a small smile back.

“Give me just a minute to order my drink, I’ll be right back.”

When Steve returned, Bucky caught a whiff of something overly sweet underneath the strong scent of coffee and he held back a grin. It seemed as though some things had stayed the same.

They sipped quietly for a few moments before Steve broke the silence.

“So, how have you been? What have you been up to since… well, since--”

“Eighth grade?” Bucky finished for him.

“Yeah, what happened to you after you left the Mobley’s?”

“Um, well, you remember they tried reuniting me with my dad right? Uh, and then when I got put back in the system, I ended up at a different school I guess.” Bucky took a careful sip of his black coffee. “And then I joined the army once I turned eighteen, so.” He shrugged. “What have you been up to?”

“Uh, well, I ended up staying with the Mobleys through the end of high school actually. And then, I found some scholarships specifically for foster children and one for cancer survivors--”

“Wait, cancer?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry. That wasn’t long after you left. I had leukemia, AML. And actually around that time I was diagnosed with Shwachman Diamond Syndrome, too, which explained a lot. It’s this rare genetic disorder that basically is why I’ve always been so small, and have some skeletal abnormalities, and have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Although I found out just recently that even though everyone had been blaming my pain on the skeletal deformities, that probably wasn’t actually the reason.

“But anyway, after that whole experience, I decided to be a nurse. It took me six years, but I graduated, and I’ve been working as an RN now for about three years.”

“Wow,” was all Bucky could think to say.

“So, the army though? I guess I’m not surprised. Is that why-- sorry, I’m sorry, I know I hate when people just ask me those kinds of questions. I don’t need to know.”

“It’s okay.” Bucky sighed and took another sip of his coffee, mentally reminding himself that this was Steve, his best friend for years-- only friend for years, if he’s being honest. Probably the only person he had ever felt so comfortable with, aside from maybe a couple of his army buddies. And he hadn’t been put off yet. Although it had been years since they had been friends, surely he was just being polite… 

Bucky mentally shook off his circling thoughts and wrenched his mind back to the topic at hand. “Um, yeah, it’s why…” He trailed off but gestured with his right hand towards his left arm, which ended in a stump about halfway down his forearm, and his eyes. “IED explosion, about a year ago.”

“Man, I’m sorry.” Bucky felt Steve lean forward and then rest his hand on his right arm and he flinched away involuntarily.

“Sorry--” Bucky gasped out, kicking himself internally for his messed up reflexes. “I’m sorry--”

“No, I’m sorry, I should have warned you, or asked first,” Steve sounded genuinely apologetic and Bucky felt even worse.

“It’s okay.” Bucky breathed in slowly through his nose and back out through his mouth.  _ Control, control _ . “I’m just… easily startled these days.”

They each took a few more sips of coffee, Bucky trying desperately to think of a way to break the tension -- or was it just him who felt tense and awkward? -- and to calm himself back down. Eventually, Steve broke the quiet yet again.

“Do you see much of your dad these days?”

The question reminded Bucky of days with Steve at their foster parents’ when he would be practically bouncing in anticipation for a visitation day with his dad, more often than not followed by a surly evening. His feelings towards his dad had always been complicated, he just hadn’t fully realized it until his last foster home.

Bucky shook his head, both in response to Steve’s question and to once again bring his thoughts back to the present. “No, uh… he passed. Junior year.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry Buck.”

Bucky just nodded, an acknowledgement and a thank you in one.

They chatted for a little longer before Steve said, “Listen, I have to get going, but can we do this again sometime? I’d like to be friends again, if that’s okay?”

Bucky gave him a small smile. “Yeah, I’d like that.”


End file.
